Hydrocarbons: ExxonMobil will bring Crete drilling ahead [Map]

ExxonMobil’s drilling rig may sail earlier to the sea blocks of Crete if the American energy giant follows the operational plan of Cyprus, where it brought to light the “Glafkos” field.

According to sources, it is possible that ExxonMobil will skip the stage of 3D seismic surveys in the “West” and “Southwest” concessions of Crete and go directly to the first test drilling. This will mean that the drilling rig will make its appearance in 2024 instead of 2025. That is, the entire research program will be brought forward by a year.

Seismic surveys off Crete

From November 7, the seismographic vessel of the Norwegian PGS “Sanco Swift” together with its accompanying vessels started the execution of two-dimensional seismic surveys in the promising fields for the detection of natural gas deposits in the sea blocks of Crete. The ExxonMobil – Helleniq Energy joint venture has been awarded the exploration and exploitation rights.

According to information, half of the concession area has been scanned and there are still works that will probably last until the end of January.

The next phase of the research program foresees the processing and analysis of the data, with the results arriving from the Norwegians in the hands of ExxonMobil –Helleniq Energy towards the end of 2023 to the beginning of 2024. Then the planning was to start the work on the acquisition 3D seismic surveys.

Competent sources report that if ExxonMobil (it is the operator of the consortium) follows the strategy of Cyprus in plot 10 then it will not hit… the 3D seismics. It will bypass them and go directly to the drills.

The condition is, of course, that there are clear results that clearly reflect the possible targets of the gas fields, the same sources explain.

So if ExxonMobil follows Cyprus’s tactics then the drilling rig will come a year earlier, in 2024 instead of 2025.

In the Ionian Sea

At the same time, in the Ionian Sea, Helleniq Energy completed the 3D surveys of the “Ionio” marine concession.

PGS’s Ramform Hyperion seismographic vessel is working on the other offshore block leased by Helleniq Energy in the Cypriot Gulf ‘Block 10’. The 3D seismic on this plot will be completed at the end of January.

Earlier, as is known, the work of 3D seismic surveys of the same vessel in the marine “Block 2” of Energean was also completed.

The seismic results of the Ionian sea blocks will be in the hands of the concessionaires towards the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, when they will be able to decide whether to proceed with the first drilling.

Ioannina

However, the “Ioannina” onshore concession will come earlier than all the drillings.

Energean, which has leased the area, is expected to do the first test drilling within 2023.

Its results will reveal to a large extent the size of the gas deposits in the Greek territory and especially in the Ionian Sea.